UNDERLEVELED

Chapter 9

Kane has been looking at his blank laptop screen for almost 30 minutes. He had a total information overload.

Finally, he snapped out and opened his laptop.

"Okay, then. Let's calm down. Calm down. Let's see..."

Search: Bastion

Multiple articles immediately appeared about Bastion. Even the face images were accurate to the face that Kane met at Arcadia. Most of the articles deemed Bastion as the fastest man alive in the history of Arcadia. But he has been gone for 10 years.

'Mamamia, so it's real?!?! He's a real person that was missing?'

Kane searched for more information and eventually reached his biography. His eyes opened wide upon scrolling down to a shocking section.

Bastion

Died: May 2060

Cause of Death: Suicide

Kane, in distress, started chewing his fingers.

"You got to be kidding me. I just played with ghosts!!"

But Kane couldn't help but be bothered by the cause of death.

"Hmmm, if what they're saying was true, then there's really something shady that was happening here."

Kane suddenly felt the chills in his bones.

"Ugh! Grrrrrrrr..."

Kane closed his laptop upon realizing the shit that he just found out. Kane looked on his phone and saw his current balance.

[CURRENT BALANCE – 50,454 GAK DOLLARS]

'So, I gained another 20k for all the things that I achieved despite not leveling up. Ugh... I need to take a break.'

Kane stood up and opened his fridge. He took out one of the last three expired food sets that he stored. He placed it on his table and removed the cover. He took his spoon, put rice in it, and shoved it to his mouth. But he suddenly stopped midway.

He paused for a few seconds before throwing the spoon back to his plate along with the food on it. Kane stood up and left his apartment.

He continued walking away until he reached an establishment. It was a restaurant. He took a deep breath, and then he entered the tangerine-painted shop.

"Welcome to M-Road Chicken! How may I help you?"

"What's your most expensive set?"

"It's set D."

"I'll take it."

He sat down on his table along with the set D that he took. It was a set composed of a Chicken, a Rice, some nuggets, bits of corn, and a cup of gravy.

The food was just right in front of him. But he wasn't moving. He had both the spoon and the fork in his hands, but he couldn't move it. Instead, he took his time looking at the delicate food right in front of him.

Finally, he took a deep breath, then shoved a spoonful of rice in his mouth. He pinned a nugget with his fork and bit it. Unknowingly, tears had been dropping from his face. It was probably the tastiest food that he ever tasted in the past few years.

It was at this moment that Kane finally realized that he was never okay. He was just surviving and not living. For the first time ever, he cried.

"Damn it. Why did this happen to me? I was the strongest person ever! I was always protecting the weak! Why did this happen to me?! Why is this my payment to my good deeds!!"